Diric emerged from the house with a small cardboard box. He walked over to her car, opened the rear passenger door, and placed the box inside. He then stood by her door, and she rolled the window down. He extended her phone to her. “I’m going to give you the address to put in your GPS. Don’t try no funny shit ma, ‘cus you won’t make it to the hospital. I’ll dispose of the body myself. The address you’re going to is twenty miles from here. In the next forty minutes or so, my man better be calling me telling me he got his shit, oryougot problems. When you pull up at the place, it’ll be an auto mechanic shop. Just wait. Someone willcome out to the car and get it. After that, you’re done for the day. I’ll come scoop you tomorrow at the same time.”
Sounded easy enough, and she prayed that it was. Raven unlocked her phone, and he rattled off the address to give her. Raven wasn’t even nervous about the amount of drugs that she was riding with. She was nervous about what would happen to her if she fucked this up. Fine ass had made it perfectly clear that he didn’t give a damn about killing her. Just the thought made a chill run down her spine.
He walked off, and she concluded that it was safe to get going. Careful not to speed, she followed the directions that the voice from the GPS was giving her. No one could pay her to commit any kind of traffic violation. The closer she got to the destination, it seemed that her medication was no longer working because she was becoming more and more anxious. Things had to go smoothly. She didn’t ask to be put in this position. Raven had no desire to end up on Canyon’s bad side, nor did she want to catch a drug charge. When she pulled up at the shop, she saw two men standing out front talking. One of them was short as hell. He barely looked to be her height which was 5’7. His gaze was directed toward the car and as soon as it was no longer moving, he walked over to the vehicle, and she rolled down the window.
“Who sent you?”
“Ummm…” it hit her that she didn’t even know rude ass’s name. “I’m not sure of his name, but Canyon is the reason I’m here.”
“Bet.” That answer satisfied the man, and he opened the rear door.
Once the box was removed from her car, Raven exhaled a sigh of relief and pulled off. It wasn’t until she had been driving for about five minutes that she could really breathe easy. Thatwasn’t so bad. Hopefully, the next few times would go just as smoothly, and then hopefully Canyon would be done with her.
Seven
Yohana stepped out of her car clad in a tight white dress with spaghetti straps that stopped just below her knees. Her heels tapped the pavement to a rhythm as she walked up to the door of the restaurant. She had just looked down at her watch when she saw a car parking. It was Canyon in his Maserati. Yohana’s breath stalled a bit, and she couldn’t believe she was nervous. After being off the market for fifteen years, she was doing what again? She refused to call it a date.
Yohana knew Canyon’s type. He reminded her so much of her uncle. Everything he did was calculated. Yohana wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to read her and see if she was really built to do time if she got caught. Men would be men, but she wasn’t just going to assume that Canyon’s invitation had anything to do with any kind of an attraction toward her.
Before her husband’s betrayal was revealed, no one could have told her that she wouldn’t hold him down during his bid. Just maybe she would have gotten her sexual needs met every now and then but being out in public with other men, she would have never.
Yohana didn’t condone snitching, but had it been anyone else, she would have turned a blind eye. But it wasn’t just anyone else. It was the uncle that was like a father to her. He had moved carefully his entire drug dealing career and the words of one man, took him out of the game. Zone had called her ten times since she left the prison that day, and she had refused to answer. If he thought she was just mad and that she’d get over it, he was wrong. It was absurd to her that he didn’t seem to know that Yohana’s loyalty to her family ran deep.
Yohana’s brain switched gears when Canyon emerged from the car. She couldn’t have stopped the smile that formed on her face at the sight of him if she wanted to. Dressed in slacks and a button up shirt, he looked like a real grown ass man. Zone was rough around the edges and no matter how old he got, that super ghetto shit was always in him. You couldn’t teach class. Well, maybe Canyon could. He was the poster child for the words distinguished thug. He walked over to her with the swag of a rich nigga and the glow of a man favored by God.
“You’re wearing the hell out of that dress,” Canyon complimented her as soon as he was up on her, and her smile widened.
“Thank you.”
He opened the door for her, and they walked up to the hostess stand. After he gave his name, they were directed through the spacious, dimly lit restaurant to their reserved table. The pair didn’t even have a chance to start conversation before the waiter came over to take their drink orders. Canyon ordered a bottle of champagne and when the waiter went to retrieve it, he looked over at Yohana.
“So, you’re serious about going through with getting a divorce?”
Yohana’s brow hiked as if he should have already known the answer to the question. Since he didn’t, she had no issue explaining her stance. “Serious as a heart attack. I’m sure someone like you would understand. My husband didn’t just snitch on anyone. He snitched on the man that is like a father to me. Why stay married to him when I have no plans to visit him, write him, or hold him down. We’re forever bound by our son, but he will be thirteen in four months. He has his own phone to talk to his dad, and he can visit him with his grandparents. I can’t ignore that my uncle got life for doing me a favor andputting Zone on after he begged him. After he begged me to vouch for him.”
Canyon held his hands up in surrender. “I get it. I don’t blame you. I was just asking. I’ve seen a lot of women that will stick by a man through a lot of shit. Some crazy shit.”
A slight scowl contorted her face. “Well, I’m not one of them.”
Canyon smiled. “Indeed, you are not.”
“So, have you ever been married?”
The waiter came with the bottle of champagne and two flutes, and that bought Canyon some time. Though he didn’t really need it. He wasn’t going to lie. Once their drinks were poured, he took a sip and looked Yohana square in the eyes. “I’m currently married.”
Her eyebrows hiked up so far, he was surprised they didn’t jump off her face. He could feel her about to go off, and he held his hands up. “My wife is in prison. Six years ago, I cheated. That explains itself. It was my fault. That was some fuck boy shit, and I shouldn’t have done it. Cheyenne found out who the woman was, and she tried to fight her. Shit got out of hand, and she ran her off the road. She’s doing ten years for manslaughter.”
Canyon paused, while Yohana picked her champagne flute up and downed all the liquid that was inside. That was a story she hadn’t expected. At all. She reached for the bottle, and Canyon continued.
“She’s been down for six years and four more to go. I have apologized profusely. I take full responsibility for cheating, but she can’t stop blaming me. She has no accountability for what she did. Rather than us trying to move on she goes through these crazy mood swings. She won’t call for a month, she won’t write, then one day she’ll call and ask when I’m coming to see her. I can’t do this hot and cold shit. I can’t wait for her to get homeand when I do, she spends every day blaming me for her going to prison.”
Yohana was glad that she was buzzing because what he had just laid on her was a lot. “That’s a very interesting story.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but I wasn’t going to lie to you. I proposed to my wife because I loved her. My lifestyle, my age, none of it was an excuse to cheat, but I did. I cheated more than once. I hurt the woman that carries my last name, and that was some foul shit to do to her but either she has to forgive me, or she can’t. I was talking to the same lawyer that you were earlier. I don’t know if I should go through with a divorce. A large part of me doesn’t want to do her wrong again, but that’s not a good reason to stay married. I wanted to come out tonight for good food, conversation, and to be in the presence of a beautiful woman. I’m not trying to get over on you, mislead you, or any of that shit. I don’t know what in the hell is going on with my life. If you want to get up and leave, I won’t even be mad.”
Yohana chuckled. “Getting up and leaving sounds like a pretty safe answer, but I get it. Zone was all I knew for fifteen years and though I’m adamant in my decision, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I had no plans of reading too much into tonight. We’re just two adults having dinner. Going through a divorce or not, I’m not exactly in a rush to jump into anything.”
Canyon grinned. “I like that answer.”
